1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a variable magnification finder optical system which can change a photographic range by converting the dimensions of film onto which an image is photographed into other dimensions and, in particular, to a variable magnification finder optical system which in a camera permitting panoramic photography, changes a finder in association with the conversion of the film size.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, cameras for 35 mm film format have been designed so that a light-blocking plate shielding the upper and lower portions of a film surface is placed in the optical path adjacent to the film surface to laterally enlarge an range in which the image is photographed on a film. In this way, panoramic photography that enhances a wide-screen sensitivity of a photographic picture has been popularized. In most of the finders for cameras provided with such a function, as shown in FIG. 1, a frame (panoramic frame) B indicative of the range in which the image is photographed on the film in the panoramic photography is marked within a field frame A for ordinary photography indicative of the photographic range. Consequently, the problem has been encountered that for a photographer, it is hard to imagine the result of the picture. This is because in ordinary photography, the panoramic frame B overlaps the field frame A and the image to be photographed is difficult to view, while in panoramic photography, other images out of the photographic range will also be visible.
In order to obviate such drawbacks, provision has been made that in the panoramic photograph, the vertical length of the field frame A for ordinary photography is changed and diminished to correspond to that of the panoramic frame B. This, however, has caused the problem that the area occupied by the visual field within the finder becomes smaller and thus the photographer has the impression that the visual field has narrowed.